IS THIS REALLY GOD’S BEST FOR US?

I came across a post in my 2015 journals and felt ministered by it. Hope this will bless you and cause you to meditate on what is God’s best for your life. 

I just read a chapter of a book in the library and I was so ministered by it. The author talked about this lady who is happily married to a believer, has three beautiful kids, lives in a beautiful farmhouse, has a close group of women fellowship, serves in church and is well off financially. She seems to be very contented and grateful in life. She enjoyed those play dates when she would interact with other mums like her in her neighbourhood. All seems well and good except for one thing, she isn't really growing in her relationship with the Lord.

The author said her happiness is build upon the fulfilment of the things she wanted for her little Kingdom. She is glad to see that she is able to fulfil her dreams and desires easily. Everything in her life seems to be going her way, well under control. She doesn't have much challenges in her simple and contented life. She is thankful to God for a nice hubby, beautiful kids and her life as it is. But it never crossed her mind to desire or want more. 

Her life is limited by the size of her life and expectations. Her close female friends are happy to talk about everything under the sun like weather, politics, activities, recipes, how the kids are doing etc. But they don't go deeper into the things of God. Of course there is nothing wrong with such things but if they impede us from growing in the Lord, then it isn't good. Sometimes the very thing we hated like our weakness or challenge or frustration is the thing that drives us to God. It became a good thing in His hands, when we surrender it to Him. 

Obviously she isn't one of those who is groaning, always waiting for dreams and desires to be fulfilled in her life, who travail like a woman heavily pregnant and about to give birth. She might not know what it means to wait upon the Lord for His timing when she seemed to have no problem fulfilling her own desires and needs. She wouldn't have struggled in such areas of heartaches and pains, of hopes deferred. She couldn't relate in areas where one has to press on for the goal set before us. The problem with her is she is too easily contented.

Is her life considered joyful and happy? On the surface yes but it could be dangerous because if her happiness is predicated on external things then it could easily be shaken. All it takes is a bad thing to happen to her family and she will be devastated. Of course the Lord will still turn all things for her good but sometimes it may take certain shaking in our lives to realise that there is a bigger dream for our lives than what we think we want or need. 

Have you seen such believers in your life? I have and there are many of such examples. I don't know is it because of the calling and purpose of their lives or they chose to think of life in that way. One sister used to tell me that if having a great calling in her life meant great trials and tribulations, then she rather not have it. She would pray to ask God for a simple, uneventful but peaceful life. She wanted her life to be smooth sailing. But is that even a prayer that God will honour? I really don't know. After all we cannot choose our calling right? It's all by His grace. 

But of course we can say we don't want His calling. We want our lives to be led in our ways. Sure, God will not force anything on us but does it mean that this will exempt us from all the trials, challenges and difficulties in our lives? Absolutely not! Wake up and smell the roses! We live in a fallen world. By the mere fact that we are made in the image of God, we are already in a war with the devil. Plus the fact that we are saved. Do you think the devil will just leave us alone? I don't mean it to sound scary but these are things that are out of our control. The only place that is really safe is in the refuge of His wings. 

The only way out of this challenges is not by avoiding them but by facing them headlong and overcoming them with God's strength. We cannot be running away from problems all our lives. This is not how God wants us to live. He has given us His power and authority and we are to take dominion of this earth. The devil won't have mercy on us, make no mistake about that. Remember that he hates us as he hated God. Only God loves us and is long-suffering towards us. He is the only One who always longs to do good to us, not harm us. 

So sometimes when I hear of people who are so incredibly blessed and contented with their lives, I don't know whether to be happy for them. It isn't that I am jealous of their blessings or cannot believe that all is too good to be true. On the contrary, I am wondering if such blessings are keeping them from seeking His kingdom rather than their own little kingdoms. And oh yes, the superficial talk about weather, kids, recipes, motherhood, activities...I have been there and done that. Years ago after I gave birth to Joshua, I was engaged in such conversations and I realised long ago that such things don't satisfy me. 

I don't know if it was me or my calling was different from others. I just couldn't relate to them, I couldn't get excited about these things. For a while I was ok but very soon there was a hunger, a discontent in my spirit that craved for more. Except that I didn't know what was it, I had to discover it for myself. Later on I realised that I craved for a deeper relationship with God. For a while I didn't like who I was and why I behaved this way. I wondered why I couldn't be similar to other women. Why I couldn't be easily contented with my life? Why do I have to be so difficult on myself by craving for more? 

Why was I often in travail, experiencing birth pangs, struggling, waiting, pressing on, pressing through when others seemed to achieve their dreams easily? Why do I always have hopes deferred that made my heart sick when others are enjoying their answered prayers? Why do I always have to be the last one to receive my miracles? (Actually I am not the last...) Why do I struggle so much with heartaches and pains, always having to deal with disappointments? It seemed so unfair. I am not being ungrateful to God because I know I am already very blessed. But deep down there was always a yearning for more, not that I am not contented with what God has blessed me with. 

Many years later and only recently I realised it wasn't a bad thing, it was actually very good in God's eyes. Now I am thankful that I was made differently. Honestly I really could kid myself and pretend to be very engrossed and contented with such things in my life but it would all end up in a bubble. I would go around in circles chasing for things that couldn't satisfy and end up in the starting point. Thank God Jesus didn't allow me to do that. Thank God He gave me perspective in knowing my divine calling and why I went through things others didn't all because of my calling. In order that my experiences could bless many others in future. 

So friends, be encouraged that if you are one of those who have suffered great losses or been through many hopes deferred and disappointments, God will not let these experiences go to waste. The reason why you go through such trying challenges is closely associated with God’s calling on your life. Even before you knew your purpose, the enemy already saw the spiritual activity in your life. That was why he attacked you first. You might be in the dark, wondering why such things happened to you and not other people. You might thought God has forsaken you or played a cruel joke on you. But no, this is not God’s doing. And God will restore to you the years the locusts had eaten. He will make the enemy pay you back seven times more!  

MEDIA MOUNTAIN

I was reading about the first enemy nation of Hittite which was the media mountain to be conquered from Johnny Enlow’s book ‘Seven Mountains of Prophecy’. Well I learnt that the word Hittite comes from the name Heth which means ‘fear’ or ‘terror’. These spirits are having a heyday being released over the air through various news outlets. They are causing more damage than the real terrorists, resulting in men’s hearts failing because of fear.

A disproportionate fear creates a false battlefield. Bad news is Satan’s speciality and twisting news is his delight. His goal is to flood the airwaves with bad news, bringing the battle to his home ground where he can easily pick off the fearful and anxious then inject sickness into a weakened immune system. Satan constantly sets scenarios that distract us from the true battlefields. He uses the media to create infighting and division at all levels of society. 

The evil principality on this mountain are twisting events and making things seem like not so. Their sting is in their tales. They have created a battlefield and convinced us that is where we must act as priority but what they say is far from the truth. Bad news conditions a soul to respond to evil influences while good news condition a soul to respond to a good God. 

 

The airwaves should be filled with that which is good, noble, lovely, of a good report in which the Lord’s school of journalism grows from. Instead of just reporting on a disaster, a positive response to negative news can be highlighted to show the silver lining in every tragedy. It is the kind of narrative or story angle that releases hope. We meditate and are motivated by whatever is before our eyes. 

 

The past few months was a very good depiction of how the enemy was flooding the airwaves with bad news of the pandemic, economic recession and chaos in the world. The confusion and distractions that we faced last year was never experienced before. Firstly there have been many conspiracy theories about the spread of the virus, the end times and the one world government. Though there was an element of truth in some of these reports, the angle in which it was presented was doom and gloom. That was how I knew in my spirit that it couldn’t be from God. 

 

Even believers are playing into the devil’s hands to spread rumours and inject fear into the body of Christ. This is not surprising because the bible already warns us of great deception in the last days. And yes the enemy used the media to cause strife and infighting not just at all levels of society but especially within the body of Christ. It was a major distraction because that battlefield is just a smokescreen, not the real one with spoils. 

 

Amidst all the confusion, I was even more determined to seek the Lord for the truth, for what is actually happening behind the scenes. Deep down I know that God already has a solution for everything that happened. It didn’t catch Him by surprise. And yes His narrative is always one that brings hope to the soul, not doom or gloom. That was how I sensed the talk about rapture coming soon was a cop-out. 

Not that I didn’t believe the rapture was coming in this generation but that it was like the panacea to bring believers out of this troubled world. And the talk about how we have entered into the seven-year tribulation or that the anti-Christ has already surfaced in the world was also not backed by biblical teachings. As long as the church (who is the restraining force) is still in the world, the anti-Christ cannot emerge. 

 

The enemy wanted the believers to buy into this narrative so that we would be helpless and powerless to stand against his wiles. He wanted us to believe that the only way out of all these trials is to look for Jesus to save us through the rapture. That has never been God’s best for us. Besides God is awakening us to the truth of what had been happening in our world. The evil and all the injustices. 

 

Some prophets and great men of God were hoodwinked by believing that God is already finished with this matter and urged the rest of us to repent and move forward. There has never been so much hatred and violence in the world caused by wrongful representation of facts by the media. At some point I didn’t even believe all that the media was telling us. I couldn’t be sure if that was the truth. 

That was when I knew my source of information had to come straight from the Lord. If the Lord said so then it must be true. But if He remained silent or didn’t correct the news then I will take it with some level of credibility. Like for example God never told me that the vaccine was evil or that it bore the mark of the beast. He only said not to worry for He will bring good out of the evil intended by the enemy. 

 

Though this was not exactly God’s best for His people (His best is still divine protection and healing), it has no power to harm the believers. And whatever evil that the enemy has planned, I really don’t think it could succeed. Not with the church praying against it. I have no problem with people trying to uncover the truth but I don’t like the after taste of it causing fear or certain hopelessness. 

 

And many times I find that we are being reactive in our prayers. Some of such news, especially when not verified had the effect of injecting fear and causing us to be distracted from what God has told us or instructed us earlier. Even if the person who circulated the news meant well, the end outcome was not intended by God. Unless the message comes with a solution or a redemptive hope, I would usually dismiss it. Or if it really bothered me so much, I would take it to the Lord and seek an answer from Him. 

 

I encountered the enemy twisting the narrative in my own life. Especially after God has given me a specific word or instruction. The enemy would then bombard me with a totally opposite story angle from what God told me. Even though I knew these were lies and it served to distract me, somehow the negative narrative had an adverse impact on my heart. I felt harassed and frustrated. Only by going back to the Lord can I have clarity over what was truly going on in my life.  

Many lessons served to remind me the importance of guarding our ear and eye gates. It is really for our own good. The constant bombardment of bad news will eventually cause our hearts to fail because of fear and anxiety. And this will affect our health. The lying symptoms will start to appear one by one. Constant bad news will rob one of the peace and joy, causing our souls to be downcast. That is also when we become most vulnerable to depression. Because we cannot see any hope in our situation. 

 

But the truth is there is always hope in Christ. God will not end a story in defeat. He has won the war and we are on the winning side. Yet the enemy kept trying to convince us that we had lost the battle. Honestly he has no power to stop God’s word from coming to pass so the only thing he can do is to cause obstruction and delays so as to wear us out from having too many hopes deferred. He wants to get us to a place where we blame God and give up on the promises. 

 

His ultimate objective isn’t just to rob us of our possession and inheritance, he wants to thwart our relationship with our Abba. He wants to destroy our trust in God so that we could never get back on our feet again. Through constant bad news and fear, he is trying to break our will and our spirit. He hopes to get us to a point where we become bitter with God and turn our backs against God. I have seen this evil tactic in my life. So many times. I have learnt so much about his warfare tactics over the years of being attacked.   

 

I really thank God that when I was so distracted a few weeks ago, He sent word through all the messages to tell me to get back to the secret place. In His presence is fullness of joy. It is only in God’s presence that I was restored to peace and joy. That I began to see things clearly so as not to be affected by the enemy’s lies. And the joy of the Lord is my strength. Indeed I had so much joy spending time with the Lord. I also was able to hear Him more clearly about His plan and instruction for me. 

SEVEN MOUNTAINS PROPHECY

Thank God for leading me to read this book by Johnny Enlow on 1 Feb. It indeed has given me a deeper revelation about how to respond during the end times and answered many questions. I don’t think it was a coincidence that this book was published in 2008, the year when my wilderness journey began. As early as 2008, the prophets were already talking about this seven mountains prophecy and about possessing our inheritance.  

But I didn’t have any understanding about this so even if I read this book back then I wouldn’t have the revelation. Now things are different. I have a hunger to seek an answer to the problems and evil doing that is in the world. I want to know what role I can play in His kingdom. Besides my spiritual understanding has increased over the years. Precept upon precept, revelation upon revelation.

 

So now when I read these books, I can better absorb what the prophets are talking about. These are very real solutions to the issues the world is facing. This book reinforces my understanding about the shaking happening since last year, the great awakening of the church and how the prophetic movement would provide a solution in this new era. I also see how it is a fine line between a revolution for the sake of rebelling against the current world systems versus a well-articulated nature of the replacement system.

 

I was not contented with our reactive way of praying against the many things that seem to threaten our biblical standards, our privacy, loss of freedom and efforts to push us into a one-world government. I felt it was very reactive, like putting out fires. I also didn’t like the notion of coming against all these things without having a bigger picture or a solution to the woes. I want to be clear what I stand for, rather than what I am against. I need a strategic structure or blueprint to guide me through such confusing times. 

 

While I know that some churches need a new wineskin, I don’t wish to give up totally on these mainline churches. I am glad to see that the Elijah Revolution will confront these churches, either resurrecting them or burying them for good. As early as 2008 there was a rapidly expanding house church movement sweeping across US. But some of it carries the spirit of rebellion and independence.

 

I don’t want to be just opposed to the dead church system offering only entertainment but no discipleship, but also to extract the precious from the worthless and allow myself to be built into something definable. I now see why the shaking and a tsunami has come because of this Elijah Revolution that is unstoppable. We need to understand the life of Elijah and how it applies to us today.

 

Bible talks about how Elijah must first come and restore all things but more significantly the last part of the OT in Malachi talked about the returning of the fathers’ hearts to the children and the children’s hearts to the fathers. This showed that a revolution will take place before the Lord returns. It is a grace revolution because its purpose is to avert a catastrophic judgment. And we know the grace revolution had long begun. 

 

I believe the key restoration is for the hearts of the children of God to be restored to our Abba God. Earlier I understood why the need to talk about our relationship with our Father because it has everything to do with inheritance, with possessing these mountains. Another part that was clearly illuminated in this book was the notion of what would happen preceding Jesus’ return. 

 

I have always held on to the notion that there must be a restoration of all things before Jesus returns. It is a restoration of the original intent of God. Jesus is retained in Heaven until the Elijah Revolution is complete. This movement will prepare His Bride for His return, just like how John the Baptist prepared the way of Jesus’ first coming. An original plan and design of God will triumph and establish Him as the Ruler of this earth. It entails the crushing of Satan here on earth before Jesus returns for His bride. 

 

Matthew 22:44 gives us critical information about God’s timing, the until factor. God is saying to Jesus that He will sit at His right hand until God makes His enemies His footstool. He will remain in heaven there as the Head and His body on earth will crush the enemies. The last generation will be the ‘foot’ generation and will rule on earth over His enemies. Until they do so, Jesus is not going back to rescue, save or rapture us. The restoration of all things and making of Satan as a footstool are the same works.

 

Earlier in Jan I wrote this. The great uncovering of the evil works was like a miracle. Things that remained hidden for decades or even centuries were all brought to light. After the initial shock, I saw how this was a very good thing for the Lord was forcing the devil to show hand. The devil’s greatest deception is to make people think he doesn’t exist. Too bad he has been caught! And now he has to repay sevenfold! For this specific battle, I am convinced the devil has lost. It will all become evident in the days and weeks to come.

 

But he will not stop at this. He will bide his time, build his army and try to bring back the one world government agenda in the future. So the church cannot remain passive. We must continue to advance His kingdom in the meantime. We must take our place to pray and watch, binding the enemy’s plans in advance. The Lord will continue to bring us to greater levels of glory. This is truly the beginning of the end before the rapture. 

 

The church will continue to take dominion over the seven mountains and will be in her most glorious state, seeing such miracles and conversions of millions as a daily occurrence. Then the rapture will come and bring us back to Jesus. After we leave this earth, the anti-Christ will rear its ugly head and resume the one world government agenda again. This time round the Illuminati will succeed in world dominion because the restraining force (the Church) is no longer on the earth to stop his plan. Hence the start of the 7-year tribulation. 

 

This is how I see the end time will pan out though I have no indication of the timelines. And it shouldn’t bother me as long as I continue to walk closely with Jesus. I will have no fear of what’s happening in the world because we are not of the world. I know that God will take good care of His people no matter what. Of course those who don’t want His protection He would not force them. In any case, I believe revival has already began.